Reliance Communications (RCOM) has extended the discussion period to merge its wireless business with Aircel by 30 days till June 22, 2016, the company said in a BSE filing. In March, RCOM had extended the exclusivity period of discussions with Aircel by 60 days until May 22, 2016. Both companies had originally entered into talks in December last year. RCOM said that the extension period was announced “based on the substantial further progress made” with Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Berhad and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited—the shareholders of Aircel Limited. The objective of a potential merger would be “to mutually derive the expected substantial benefits of in-country consolidation, including opex and capex synergies and revenue enhancement,” RCOM added. Even though the discussions are at advanced stage, it remains non-binding and any transaction is subjected to documentation, regulatory, and shareholders’ approvals. RCOM and Reliance Jio spectrum sharing Last month, the DoT approved a spectrum sharing deal between Reliance Jio (Jio) and Anil Ambani owned Reliance Communications (RCOM) to share their 800MHz spectrum band across 9 Circles. The deal was applicable across RCOM’s 7 Circles and Reliance Jio’s 2 Circles. In January, both companies entered into a strategic partnership to share spectrum to provide LTE services across 9 circles. At that time, RCOM and Jio said that they also intend to enter into a mutual Intra Circle Roaming (“ICR”) arrangement. RCOM Merger with MTS In March, shareholders of Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which owns the MTS brand in India has approved the merger…
